


Welcome to My World

by siba



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Children, Children, Family, Fluff, M/M, Romance, What is this? Working through trauma? More likely than u think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-12 16:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19949017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siba/pseuds/siba
Summary: Written for the lovely Merry Mozzarella for the Reaper76 Reverse Big Bang based upon their amazing art! Thank you friend :)Former Boxing Champion and gold medalist Gabriel Reyes is a recent father to two nine year olds who have one particularly bad habit- of causing trouble. One morning their 'antics' bring a handsome police officer to their door by the name of Jack.





	Welcome to My World

**Author's Note:**

> A very thank you to my Fiance- who single handedly turned this hot gay mess into a masterpiece and continues to inspire me every day. Thank you so much Querido. I cannot wait to continue writing stories with you for the rest of our lives.

There’s something that a certain group of people would enjoy about the stifling heat that seems to permeate from the cracks in the concrete in LA. Not Gabriel Reyes. It reminds him of hot summers spent with his grandparents by Venice beach. When he throws the covers he curses those particular people who move here for the heat. His forehead already has a bead of sweat despite the fact that the air-conditioner is on full blast. He stares at the ceiling for a moment before he hears the tell tale signs of children shuffling outside his bedroom door. When he gets up to open the door, he finds that both of his children are running down the hall. Sombra is chasing Jesse with what Gabe can only assume, based upon its colorful nature and how it hangs lifelessly from her hands, is the rubber snake Anna had gotten her last time that they all went to the zoo.

  
“Oye-” Gabe calls as he steps into the hallway, a blast of warm air making him regret waking up, “What did I say about that snake?” He inquires as Sombra hisses at her brother. Although by that point Jesse had found refuge behind his bedroom door and with one final, deafening squeal, he slams his door shut. Sombra tries, rather unsuccessfully to stifle her giggles. It really was too early for this. He silently prays for his long deceased grandmother and apologizes for every early Saturday morning he knows she had to suffer at his hands.

  
“Sombra.” He raises an eyebrow, watching as Sombra turns to face him from her spot at the end of the hall. He knows what is coming, the look. As expertly as ever, Sombra holds her hands behind her back and swings back and forth on the balls of her feet, looking up at him with bright eyes and the occasional eyelash bat. Her saccharine smile was almost sickening, it almost made Gabe laugh.  
“Not to chase Jesse with it.” Sombra answers with a cheeky smile.

  
He nods, “And?”

  
Sombra purses her lips slightly, staring at the ceiling as she thinks, “-And that I’m only allowed to scare people in the gym lockers after the gym closes.”

  
Gabe nods once more, “Right. If I catch you again Mr. Culebra is going to stay in your locker at work. Entiendes Mija?”

  
“Si papa”

  
“Good, now go get ready for work.” Gabe shuffles towards his bathroom down the hall, choosing to ignore the puddle of sweat that was already beginning to form on the small of his back. Just as he reaches his bathroom door, Jesse’s door cracks open. He peeks out from behind his poster-covered door, revealing his scruffy hair still flattened at the top from his cowboy hat worn the previous day. His eyes are wide with a question Gabe always knows is coming.

  
“Hey Papa, Can Som and I go outside?”

  
“Do you want to die of heat stroke?” Gabe raises an eyebrow, he could practically see Jesse weighing the pros and cons in his head of the air conditioning versus going outside and playing for a few minutes.

  
“Si!” Sombra chimes in from her room down the hall. Her response was followed by a giggle.

  
“Very funny.” Gabe rolls his eyes, going to take a step into the bathroom.

  
“Please Papa! I promise I’ll drink lots of water today and I’ll be super careful.”

  
Jesse extends his bottom lip and widens his eyes, almost comically. Ever since he had watched that damn movie about a squirrel he’d been pouting in the hopes that it would get Gabe to agree to his shenanigans. Albeit, sometimes Jesse did get away with convincing Gabe. Now would be one of those times.

  
“Fine.” He sighs, watching Jesse light up as he says so. “But-” Jesse freezes, waiting in anticipation for the signal so he could run and throw on his clothes.

  
“Only for fifteen minutes, we have to leave soon.” Jesse nods vigorously before darting into his room to get ready and undoubtedly find the best of his toys to take outside and play with.

  
The shuffling of clothes and the soft slamming of dresser drawers told him that Sombra and Jesse were silently racing to see who could get outside the fastest. It was a sentiment that Gabriel didn’t share as he stepped into the bathroom and instantly flicked on the light. The yellow light flickers on, illuminating his scantily decorated bathroom. He flips on the shower to the coldest possible setting and lets himself take in the arctic breeze that flows from behind his shower curtain.

  
The sounds of the chilled water was the most tempting thing he had heard to date. He nearly trips over his own pajama pants as he rushes to throw them off and submerge himself in the closest thing to a frozen lake that he could find. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to waste fantasizing about shoving himself into a freezer or attempt to give himself hypothermia by sitting in the shower. Instead he was in and out in five minutes, no time to waste.

  
In another five he was in his bedroom throwing on his work uniform- gym shorts, tennis shoes, and a tank top. As if him cleaning up everyone’s shit wasn’t enough for people to realize he worked there, he wears a name tag bearing his name.

  
After looking himself over once or twice to make sure he looks presentable, Gabe shuffles down the hall towards the front of the house. Somehow, it was cooler in the kitchen, despite the blazing sunlight streaming in through the windows, than it had been in his bedroom. It was a small miracle, but as he began to prepare breakfast, he couldn’t have been more grateful.

  
Despite the hustle and bustle of living in LA, there was one tradition that was kept alive in the Reyes household, listening to old Elvis Crespo while making breakfast. It had started with his grandparents years ago in their Venice apartment. Every morning, breakfast was made to the same rhythm. His abuelita would make eggs to the beat of La Sonrisa, juice the oranges to Suavemente, fry up the meat that morning to Llorando y Te Vas. She always used to say that it made everything taste better. He wasn’t a chef, but he didn’t want to push his luck and go against her traditions in regards to cooking.

  
He unlocks his phone as he stands in front of the stove, scrolling through Spotify to find his breakfast playlist as the pan heats up. As soon as the familiar beat of Donde Estaras plays through his phone speaker, he slips his cell in his pocket, choosing to focus his attention on the eggs he was cracking into the pan before him. The eggs sizzle, cracking and popping while Gabe steps back and forth to the music, pushing them around with a spatula and occasionally humming along to the words.

  
He had just finished scrambling Sombra’s eggs, adding a pinch of cayenne that she insisted on, when he looked up towards the front yard to see what Jesse and Sombra were up to. They knew the rules, morning playtime was strictly to be in the front yard within sight of the large kitchen window. So when Gabriel wasn’t able to see Jesse’s scrawny figure or Sombra’s signature bright pink shirt, he panics.

  
Without missing a beat, Gabe turns off the gas for the stove and walks to the window in their living room in the hopes that he would be able to see Jesse and Sombra from the different vantage point. As soon as he steps in front of the window, pulling back the curtains hurriedly, he sees Jesse and Sombra sitting in front of the sidewalk. Although the sight brought him no joy. For right in front of them was a police car. His heart sinks in his chest and an unimaginable fear grips his chest. As much as he loved LA, the police were not the best to brown children. Let alone his two who happened to be big trouble makers.

  
His instincts begin to kick in immediately. He whips out his phone and begins to take photos as the kids sit on the grass and the police officer, some tall blonde, begins to walk towards them from where his police car was parked. Perhaps he was too busy trying to document everything in case he had to defend himself or his kids from this asshole to notice that the police officer had gotten down on the ground. Gabe looks up from where he was taking photos, watching as the blonde officer lays on the concrete and smiles towards Jesse and Sombra. Gabe could see even from there that they were both stiff, but oddly enough Jesse pushes his toy car towards the officer and watches in amazement as the officer picks it up and begins to chat. Although Gabe couldn’t hear what was being said, it seemed that the bastard was having a grand old time looking over the car based upon how he was pointing to different areas of the colorful toy and smiling towards the kids.

  
“Huh.” Gabe murmurs to himself, watching for a moment as the cop continues to play with Jesse and Sombra- moving the car back and forth and narrowly avoiding Jesse attempting to catch it and snatch it back. Maybe the heat was getting to him, this has to be a mirage induced by heat-stroke and stress.

  
Gabe walks towards the front door and braces himself for the gust of blazing heat. Sure enough, as soon as he opens the front door, he felt as if he had stepped into a fireplace. He ignores the sweat that instantly began to bead on his forehead and he whistles for Jesse and Sombra. They whip around and much to Gabe’s surprise, bright smiles were plastered on their faces. That was a rare sight.  
“Oye, come get breakfast. It’s getting cold.” Gabe calls. Sombra springs up, pulling Jesse up by his sleeve. Jesse darts down quickly, snatching up his toy car with a triumphant smile. He could hear them saying goodbye to the blonde lying on the sidewalk still before they bolt towards him.

  
“Papa!” Jesse yells as he runs, “Officer Jack likes my toy truck!” He says as he runs up to Gabe, holding up the latest toy car that Jesse had gotten that past weekend as a present.

  
“Does he now?” He places a hand on Jesse’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “Go on, eat breakfast. We don’t have a lot of time left.”

  
“Gracias Papa.” They both chime, stepping into the doorway and bolting towards the kitchen to devour their food.

  
“Don’t forget to take your vitamins-” Gabe reminds them, although he knew it fell on deaf ears. Luckily he had a stash at the gym so he could make sure that they were taking them.

  
Once the kids were in the kitchen, Gabe looks back towards the front yard. By now the blonde officer had stood up and was wiping off the front of his pants. Once he had seemed to collect himself, he begins to walk towards where Gabe stood at the front door.

  
“Sorry if I startled you-” The officer calls, Gabe says nothing, rather he opts to watch the way the officer saunters across the grass. His smile was almost as bright as the damn sun.

  
“We got a call about suspicious activity on this block and I was in the neighborhood so I figured I’d come check it out.” As the officer makes his way onto the porch, he offers Gabe a smile that made his heart skip a beat or two. He has a general aversion to cops, but there are exceptions to be made for every rule.

  
“Let me guess, it was that old hag two doors down.” Gabe crosses his arms, taking his opportunity to take a good look over the man before him. He was well built, strong arms hidden beneath that cornstarch blue button down and peeking out from where he had rolled up his sleeves. For once, Gabe could not be more grateful that it was as hot as hell outside.

  
“Well, I can neither confirm or deny that-” He begins, offering Gabe a sheepish smile as he rests his hands on his belt, “But I can say that whoever it was, they were probably just suffering from heat stroke because those two are great kids.”

  
Gabriel blinks back his surprise and maintains his normal composure, if anything he expected Calvin Klein here to say that they were a handful or better yet ‘troublemakers’. It wouldn’t be the first time the LAPD had called them trouble. He’s come to expect it with all the cynical realism of a true LA resident.

  
“Well. I’m glad you think so-” Gabe raises an eyebrow.

  
“Jack.”

  
Of course, his name has to be Jack, of all the names in the world.

  
“Gabriel Reyes” He nods, offering the man the faintest of smiles. After all, he was still part of the LAPD, even if he looked like he should be on the front of a GQ Magazine.

  
“My pleasure, Mr. Reyes.”

  
“Likewise.” Gabe nods. He watches as Officer Jack offers him a smile, the kind of smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. It was a good smile.

  
Despite his own aversion, Gabe finds himself asking “You’re not from around here are you?”

  
“What gave me away?” Jack chuckles and uses the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. He looked like he was going to say something else, but before he could, a soft mumbling came from the radio attached to his shoulder. He listens in intently to the radio and sighs quietly. A resigned smile comes to his face and for a brief moment their eyes meet.

  
“Sorry, duty calls.”

  
Jack takes a step back off of the porch, “Have a good day, Mr. Reyes.” With that, he turns back around and makes his way to his cruiser on the street. Gabriel watches as he gets into his car and begins to drive back down the street towards the corner. Maybe he was suffering from heat stroke too because he could have sworn that he saw Calvin Klein glance back one more time and smile.

  
Once the coast was clear, he steps back into the living room and closes the front door. The sweet embrace of cold air surrounds him, calming both his sweating skin and his overly active imagination. As he makes his way into the kitchen, Gabe pulls his phone from his pocket. He immediately opens the most efficient app to be nosy- Facebook.

  
‘Rookie on the beat stopped to play with the gremlins today after asshole neighbor called in ‘suspicious activity’ b/c he couldn’t deal with seeing little brown kids playing on the sidewalk. Anyone got word on the Calvin Klein model calling himself Jack?’ He attaches one of the photos he took of Calvin Klein laying down on the ground while playing with Jesse and Sombra before sending it off into the internet. Hopefully someone on his minimal friends list is nosy enough to have some information- maybe a cell number, who knows.

Between getting the kids in the car and getting through morning traffic on the US 101 North, Gabe was nine minutes late to open Overwatch Olympic Gym. Which given their usual track record, nine minutes past was not bad at all. That gave Gabe the perfect amount of time to slip in with their usual morning crowd and drop off his stuff in his shared office before making his way to set up for their nine-fifteen boxing classes. It also allowed Jesse and Sombra the perfect amount of time to drop off their knapsacks in their respective lockers and change into their boxing gear to join their father as he taught the nine-fifteen.  
Gabe was in the middle of adjusting the weight distribution of their class punching bag when Ana comes up behind him.

  
“So, I heard you have had an eventful morning.” She chimes as she steps beside him, holding the punching bag as Gabe continues to fangle with the straps at the top of the bag.  
“What makes you say that?” He grunts, pushing one of the straps back with a heavy push.

  
“Fareeha said Jesse was talking about how he made a new friend this morning.” Ana pauses and chuckles, “-That and I saw your Facebook post this morning.”

  
“Oh yea? So you saw our neighborhood Calvin Klein model then.” Gabe pushes one last strap and then takes a step back to watch how the bag sways- he wanted it at a particular angle for that class session. He tilts his head to the side and sighs, “Goddamnit-” He mumbles, stepping forward to continue adjusting the straps of the bag

  
“I did. So much for stranger danger.”

  
Gabe snorts, “You know damn well that if anyone approaches Jesse and offers to play or show him something cool he is going to follow them.” He steps back one more time after another hard shove to the strap. Gabe takes a look over the punching bag, satisfied with his work finally. He glances at Ana from the corner of his eye, a faint smile on his lips. Ana wore her same outfit at always, her matching Navy blue Tank Top that read ‘STAFF’ in white letters and her running shorts that showed off her carefully sculpted legs- she always said that they were the best side effect from being a professional runner.

  
“You are correct.” Ana leans over, nudging Gabe with her elbow, “You know, I can ask Sam if he knows of any new recruits who look like Calvin Klein models.” She teases with a wicked smirk curling the corners of her lips.  
“You don’t have to do all that. He’s just a beat cop with a knack for picking on brown kids. He’s like every o officer in Echo Park.” Gabe shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest. The chime of the doorbell alerts them both to the flood of regulars who come for the nine-fifteen classes. Gabe could see the faces of many of his regulars, Lena, who served as their occasional front desk woman, her fiance Emily, Satya, The Lindholm Clan, Ms. LaCroix, Ms. Shimada and her two sons Hanzo and Genji, and the occasional straggler who didn’t come as frequently to give themselves a name.

  
“Duty calls. We will discuss this later Gabriel.” Ana whispers. She jogs forward quickly, offering their guests bright smiles as their clients begin to settle in, change into their clothing and head to their respective classes.

Overwatch Olympic Gym was always the busiest from five in the morning to about noon. At which point there are at least three classes going on every hour on the top of the hour, all of which are taught by either professional athletes or former olympians. There was Gabriel, the former Boxing gold medalist, Ana the former track and field gold medalist and current marathon runner, Reinhardt the weight lifting champion and Mr. California for the year, Zarya the professional bodybuilder and weight lifter, and Mei the occasional Yoga instructor. Between setting up for all of these classes, as well as maintaining the cleanliness of the regular gym where people came for non-structured workouts, Gabe had his hands full most days.

  
For some reason, a reason which Gabe chalked up to the astoundingly awful heat wave they were experiencing, the gym was exceptionally packed that day. Every class was to max capacity that particular morning, some even having wait-lists for those that were later on in the day. Between picking up around the gym, teaching, taking care of Sombra and Jesse, and cleaning, Gabriel didn’t have a moment to sit for nearly his entire shift that day. By the time his floor shift was over and he was able to retire to his office to do paperwork, he was drenched in sweat. When he finally had a moment to plop down in his office chair, he immediately grabbed a towel and began to wipe himself off as if he had just gotten out of the shower. For a brief moment, he rests the towel over his face and he leans back in his office chair. The sound of metal clanking in the distance and the soft squeaking of rubber mats was calming to his fried nerves- had it not been for the sound of his office door opening, Gabe would have found himself snoring within sixty seconds.

  
“So I got some intel for you.” Ana says, stepping into their shared office and closing the door behind them. “-also I gave Fareeha ten dollars to go take the kids to get tacos from the truck down the street.” Ana steps around Gabe’s desk and snatches the towel off of his face- earning her a faint grunt in protest from Gabe who at this rate, was wondering if it was humanly possible to sweat to death.

  
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” He pauses, watching Ana’s lips turn up in that gloating smirk she always does when she knows she is correct. “For the tacos, not for stalking random men on the internet.” He corrects.

  
Ana rolls her eyes. With one swift motion she tosses Gabe’s dirty towel into a nearby laundry bin, “Any ways, Sam says the new guy is in patrol in Echo Park and North China Town, in case you ever want to run into him ‘by accident’.”

  
Gabe’s eyes watch the flying towel as it lands in the bin and gracefully falls off of the rounded pile back onto the floor, “Nice shot” He mutters, which earned him a playful punch to the shoulder from Ana.

  
“I’m not a basketball player for a reason. I will leave that to Fareeha.” Ana leans back on Gabe’s desk, rustling the pile of papers he has carefully teetering in the middle. For a minute, they both sit in silence. Gabe’s eyes are fixed on where the towel lays limp on the floor. He had never related to an inanimate object more in his life prior to that moment.

  
“You alright?” He hesitates, then nods slowly.

  
“Yea, Just the heat.” Gabe drags his eyes from where he was staring at the towel, finally meeting Ana’s concerned gaze. “I don’t know what it is about it today that hits different, but I’ve been dying since this morning.” He lets out a deep breath he didn’t know he had been holding, letting his lungs constrict for a moment and bring him back down to Earth.

  
“Why don’t you head home? I’ll ask Reinhardt if he can help me with evening cleaning so you can go home and get some rest.” Ana pauses, watching the detest grow in Gabe’s facial expression to the idea that someone clean besides him. After all, whenever anyone besides Gabriel did the closing cleaning routine, it left more problems than it did anything else. One time he had even found a dirty towel left behind- abhorrent.  
“Gabe, you worked fourteen hours yesterday.” Ana protests, “-You have the kids now, you can’t keep working like you used to.” She places a hand on Gabe’s shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze as she speaks, “Trust me, go home. Spend time with Sombra and Jesse, relax, become a human popsicle. I don’t care. Just don’t stay here.”

  
Gabriel had always hated admitting Ana was right, ever since they were little kids. Now, he hated it more than ever, but he was equally as grateful for the chance to go home and just relax. As much as it pained him to potentially not see the place spotless to his standards once he walks into the gym in the morning, he trusted Ana and her judgement. That and his shower was calling his name once again.  
With a deep resigned sign, Gabriel nods and begins to stand up, “Fine.” He pauses, offering Ana a tired smile. It was her favorite kind, the kind that made Gabe’s forehead wrinkled and his eyes crinkle around the edges, “Thank you Ana”

  
“Don’t get too sentimental on me.” She taunts, pulling him in for a tight hug, “But you’re welcome.” She murmurs against his shoulder, giving him one last hard squeeze before he steps back and Ana stands from where she had been leaning against his desk.

  
“Can you send me the email of that guy who wants to do the custom classes?”

“What did I just say?”

“Fine, I’m going-”

  
It took some coaxing, and maybe another taco or two as a bribe, to get Sombra and Jesse in the car heading back home. Although as soon as they were in the car with the A/C was on full blast, they knocked out before Gabe had time to pull out of the parking lot. Jesse’s snoring was good background music as Gabriel wove through traffic coming from West Hollywood. They had beaten the worst of rush hour by just a hair, getting them home in a reasonable forty minutes as compared to the normal hour and a half. You take small miracles where you can get them in Los Angeles.

  
Once Gabe had taken all of their bags in, he carried Sombra and then Jesse into the house and into their respective rooms to continue their naps. Despite the fact that the peace and quiet was disconcerting in its rarity, Gabe found himself more than happy at the situation at hand. He was sprawled over the couch with the A/C on full blast pointed directly at him. The news played softly in the background but by that point, he didn’t particularly care about how the Lakers were doing.

  
In the momentary silence he’s allowed to think of the beat cop from this morning, fleeting thoughts, nothing too important. He thinks about the easy smiles, wondering what kind of town or planet he’s from. His grandparents had always been easy to tell him it was okay, that having emotions was a natural part of life, but living in LA makes it so that you learn to steel yourself. It’s clear the man hasn’t learned that particular habit. He feels himself lulling into a soft sleep, the whirring of the air-conditioning empties his head of most thoughts. Sooner rather than later he’s softly snoring.

  
When he wakes up it doesn’t look as though any time has passed. He wakes up, eyes and brain cloudy, but as he sits up, finding the balance, he looks at the clock on the wall. Three hours have gone by. He gets up slowly, padding through the house, looking for his kids, when he realizes the silence speaks for itself. Jesse and Sombra are nowhere to be found, but when he looks out of the window he finds them both idly eating popsicles on the porch together. For once there are no snakes, no hair pulling, no crying or yelling or accusations. All that’s left is a sweet moment between brother and sister with a beautiful Los Angeles sunset.


End file.
